Which? - Consumers in 2030

Consumers in 2030 asks ‘what might consumers need from Which? in 2030?’ The result of a partnership between Forum and Which?, it aims to spark debate about the changing needs of UK consumers in the 21st century among policy-makers, think-tanks, regulators, politicians, consumer brands and consumers themselves. It shares research and projections about what life might be like for UK consumers, and gives us a window into future needs, opportunities, issues and markets by imagining five products and services we could find at home.

It uses a detailed historical analysis of consumer trends from the mid-1950s to the present, modelling these trends forwards to 2030. Forum worked with Which? to ‘flex’ the model to include the potential impact of behavioural shifts and uncertainties about the future, and to explore the practical implications for home life. The report explores how a low growth UK economy could interact with mega trends like resource scarcity, collaborative consumption, demographic aging and immersive technology to shape consumer markets over the next 17 years.

It contains five products and services that we might find at home in 2030. These express the changes we might see in society at large, in our life-styles, our household budgets and in the innovations that could hit the mainstream - giving us insight into the motivations for new consumer markets and allowing Which? and others to explore the positive and negative sides of consumers’ experience.

Will your children or grand-children be sporting Super Genius Trainers? Could you be saving for your pension through a Crowd Mortgage? Could Bathroom GP be a permanent resident? We’ll feature a blog series next week to consider the questions, surprises, opportunities and alarm bells raised by each product and service from 2030 – and their implications for us today in 2013.